A record number of rape cases are being closed because victims don’t want to pursue them. An expert says the figures reflect a lack of support which means that rapists are “getting away with it”.

But Cambridgeshire police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have highlighted the work they are doing to help rape victims. Exclusive analysis of the latest police force data in Cambridgeshire shows that on 182 occasions in 2017/18, a women aged 16 or over chose not to pursue further action against their rapist. That is despite the fact a suspect had been identified and was known to police. The figure is up from 127 the previous year and is more four times greater than the 45 it stood at in 2014/15 - when comparable records on case outcomes were first available. If a victim does not support further action in a rape case, then the case closes. The data shows that, in 2017/18, a further 129 cases across Cambridgeshire were closed because of “evidential difficulties”, despite the suspect having been identified and the victim wanting to pursue further action. It means that in total there were 311 cases where police recorded a crime of rape, and identified a suspect, but no prosecution followed because of evidential difficulties. At the same time only 17 people were charged or summonsed to court for the rape of a woman aged 16 and over.

Why might victims not pursue court cases?

A spokesperson from the End Violence Against Women Coalition said: “There are lots of reasons we know that women don’t want to pursue justice. “Women are routinely being asked by police to give up access to their social media including mobiles, laptops, emails, access to school records and medical records. “Basically police are trying to find out about examples of past sexual behaviour to see if you’re going to be a convincing enough person in court. “But it shouldn't matter what happened 10 years ago if a woman got raped last Thursday. “It means that vulnerable women in society such as those who have previously experienced sexual abuse are being screened out. “We are very concerned about that as there are women who will never be viewed as credible.

“The process at the moment is saying that if you rape these [more vulnerable] women then you will never be pursued. It means rapists are getting away with it. “There are still so few women as a proportion of those who are raped who even report their case to the police. “We are calling for an end to end review in the whole justice system and we want to look at how police make decisions on which cases to pursue. “We also believe that the Crown Prosecution Service is being skewed based on targets. “The fewer people they prosecute, the better their conviction rate will look two years down the line because they’ve screened out those who they don’t think will look good in front of a jury. “Another reason women don’t pursue cases is because they aren’t being supported and they know that it will be their character that goes on trial. “Some women feel like they are going through the ordeal again. “If you’re interested in achieving justice you would design a system that didn’t do this to women.”

What police and CPS say

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “The force takes all allegations of rape and serious sexual assaults extremely seriously and has a dedicated Rape Investigation Team. “Specialist officers deal with victims at a very early stage and provide support throughout the judicial process. “The force also works closely with the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) which provides victims of rape and sexual abuse with medical and sexual health care, counselling and support. “Officers work closely with the SARC to ensure any offences which are revealed are fully investigated.

A CPS spokeswoman said: “Sexual offences are intensely personal and distressing crimes and we take their prosecution extremely seriously.

“These cases can often be complex to prosecute as they involve very little corroborative evidence compared to other crimes, often resulting in prosecutors having to consider one person’s word against another’s. In recent years we have increased the number of specialist prosecutors and rolled out additional training.

“The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges where there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to do so.”

She added that the CPS is training prosecutors to deal with the complexities of rape cases, including victim vulnerabilities and the impact ofd rape cases.

She said the the CPS is getting in contact with the police earlier in their investigations and has established area case management panels which provide more focus on challenging rape cases before people are charged.

The situation in Cambridgeshire is mirrored across England and Wales. A record 11,826 women decided not to pursue their case in 2017/18. That is up from 9,513 the previous year and is nearly treble the 4,005 in 2014/15.